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Alive Design or Static Design: Its Role in Mobile Websites

Written by Webfoot on . Posted in Blog, Website Design, Websites (General).

Webfoot Site DesignAs the role of mobile websites can no longer be disputed thanks to the importance placed upon them by Google, it is interesting to look briefly at something that is being termed ‘alive design’ as it could very well be something that is going to take over.

The term is actually pretty self-explanatory, which makes life so much easier, as it is all about designing websites that appear to be alive, constant, fresh, and best of all that it is tailored to your own individual needs or wants.

This does sound pretty impressive, as well as difficult to imagine, but it is certainly an approach that is being used by more people. Think of how you interact with the likes of Twitter or Facebook on your phone. That in its own right is a prime example of alive design as everything is constantly changing. You see updates, you can interact, and every single time you look at the website it really is new as something different is right there before you.

Clearly, this is the complete opposite to the static design. With that, you know exactly what to expect from the moment you land there, and even if you go back a week or so later, you still see the same picture and text as you did the last time.

However, that’s not to say that we are saying static design is a bad thing. Indeed, it is certainly the best option for the majority of websites, even those that have caught onto this entire mobile website thing.

It Has Been Around Longer Than You Know.

Here is some news for you. This concept of alive design has been around for longer than you are perhaps aware. Indeed, it is only relatively new that it is being applied to traditional websites because previously it was apps that were the real home of this approach.

The alive design market is huge. Even on the Apple app store, there are estimates that over 2 million apps actually use this approach. You can be sure that the same number, or roughly similar numbers, will also appear on the Google Play store.

Now, you could be forgiven for thinking that this is something that works well for mobile apps, but not for websites, but you would be wrong. Oh, you would be so wrong.

Even websites for businesses that operate in a certain locality or industry can benefit from considering this type of design. The freshness that it brings can inspire people into buying from a company website as they feel that there is a more personal touch to it all. Considering the amount of competition out there, anything that can increase the chances of a completed sale or even contact being initiated is certainly worth exploring.

But what kind of things can you do with your own website that at least adds a sense of this active design to it? Well, there are several points that could work.

Of course, one of the main ways would be to have aspects of your social media appearing on your website. These can be updated automatically and it gives a sense of something changing. This is the primary way of achieving this feel, but then if you sell a number of products, you can have regular updates showing the most popular items, new reviews, or anything else that is happening in that moment.

Mentioning the concept of ‘in that moment’ is more important than you think. Indeed, it is central to the entire ethos of alive design. You are present as something is changing on that website. You are present and aware of business happening, or interactions happening as you sit there looking at the site. It feels as if it is on the move, which is what you are probably doing when you on your phone and checking out the Internet.

So, how do you know if your website is even suitable for this approach?

Well, there are a number of things to take into consideration, but the only way in which you will ever know for sure is to go ahead and seek some professional advice. As we mentioned earlier, there are a number of instances where a static design is indeed the best way to proceed. Not every website actually has to have things changing constantly to get its message across, and not everybody expects that.

Do not allow yourself to be put under pressure to have your website looking a certain way if it is not actually required. Yes, active designs work, but they can also be overused and at that point they are negating all of the advantages that they have. Avoid falling into the trap of believing you need it. You will often find that this is not actually the case.

Constantly Playing the Google Game

Written by Webfoot on . Posted in Blog, SEO, Websites (General).

If you view the world of SEO as a game, then it is one you constantly need to play thanks to Google. In fact, it has been shown that Google can make over 500 changes to the algorithm that decides the search engine rankings over the course of a single year.

Now, not every change is huge or going to completely disrupt how you rank, but subtle changes do tend to add up to something that is much bigger, and that is where the problem lies. Also, nobody knows the direction that Google will be heading in next, so staying on your toes with your SEO strategies is going to be important.

But here’s something else that makes it even more difficult than before, Google has a habit of keeping its cards close to its chest.

You could say that they are quite correct in taking this approach, but it does make our job so much harder. Often, websites will suddenly vanish from view as a result of changes to the algorithm leading to SEO experts scrambling around trying to work out what on earth is going on. However, there are times where the site will bounce back all on its own accord a short while later leading to even more head scratching than before.

At times, Google becomes your friend and warns you of a massive update coming. They also then give it names such as Panda or Penguin, but that’s only with the large scale changes and, to be honest, those are easier to handle.

So what does a website owner, or SEO expert, do in these instances? How can this entire approach by Google be counteracted?

Clearly, one approach is to follow the rules to the letter. It makes sense that if you stay well within the lines that the chances of you being caught up in small changes and them having a negative impact are slim. However, if you go up to the line to such an extent that you are positively surfing along it, then you run the very real risk of having your fingers burnt.

You see, it’s unusual for Google to drastically change direction to such an extent that the majority of websites would then be affected. That would just be bad news for them and would cause such an uproar that they dare not risk it. That’s why they tend to tip toe around making small changes here and there which, over the course of a year and hundreds of changes, does add up to something substantial.

The idea is that, by taking this approach, Google allows people to make the changes gradually leading to smaller dips in rankings that can then easily be recovered. Now, this isn’t a post praising the virtues of Google, far from it, because hundreds of changes over the course of a year is a bit too much to keep track of, but it is an attempt to stress that things may not be as bad as you initially thought.

Staying Ahead of the Game.

For us, the key is in staying ahead of the game and, admittedly, that is not always as easy as you would like to think. However, having a clear strategy in place for your SEO and the future success of your website does make life easier as does having a Plan B, C, and even D.

Your approach to SEO has to be flexible to accommodate those changes that could occur at any point. If you are too rigid, then any movement is going to throw you into a quandary as you wonder what to do next and desperately attempt to avoid having to scrap your entire approach and start anew.

You must accept that changes will occur. The sooner you do that, then the easier it becomes to deal with them. Know that they will often happen without any prior knowledge, which is why you need to monitor things on a regular basis and drop the idea that your plan today will still be the perfect plan this time next year, it won’t.

Dealing with Google and SEO is indeed a dance. It’s a dance where Google leads and you are trying to avoid standing on their toes so they don’t go into a mood and send you back to the sidelines. The best thing that you can do is to become an expert dancer, or hire the services of someone who knows how to keep pace with them and stay in line with the rules. Anything else just puts your entire website at risk and Google will not think twice about punishing you, which would be a huge shame.

Simplifying Your Website Could Be the Best Decision Ever

Written by Webfoot on . Posted in Blog, Content, Website Design, Websites (General).

By studying a range of websites, it makes it easier for you to begin to come to terms with things that are categorically wrong with so many. Often, a website can look as if it’s too crowded as if somebody has tried to put far too much information on the one page, and what is the result? A website that can be extremely off-putting.

Now, this isn’t to say that this approach will not always work for everyone, far from it. However, you need to really put some thought into all of this. After all, what do you prefer as an individual when you go to the website of any company? Do you prefer being able to land on there and feel stressed out as you simply have no idea where to look? Of course not, and who would?

That’s why the title of this blog is ‘Simplifying Your Website Could Be the Best Decision Ever’ because that statement does indeed speak the truth. In fact, it is now even more important than ever before thanks to the use of smartphones and tablets. Gone are the days where your only concern was how your website looked on a 17inch monitor and it has been replaced by something far smaller.

In other words, if your website is crowded, then how can you expect those individuals surfing it on their iPhone or whatever to then make sense of it all?

So, what could be your way forward? Well, there are several key points that are worth considering that may very well help you out of this rather difficult situation.

Use a Call to Action.

People no longer want to sit and wade through reams of information just to get to the reason why they are there in the first place. Instead, people are impatient and just want to get to that destination, so it makes sense for you to provide them with this call to action and make it as bold as possible.

This will actually increase the click-thru rate that you get and will actively encourage more people to do the action that you want them to do. It is actually crazy to think that a number of individuals will often bypass this and feel that they need to sell something over and over again. If that’s you, then stop it.

Reduce the Number of Pages.

Even if you have a lot to say, cut down on the number of pages. By simplifying things, you need to streamline as much as possible, so that’s where the likes of bullet points and bringing things together under common categories will work well.

For example, say you have a number of services. Some people would go ahead and have a different page for each service, but that is like web design suicide now. Instead, it would all go under the one banner of ‘Services’ with a brief summary of each thing all on the one page.

Don’t Get Fancy with Navigation.

There has been a recent trend to have all kinds of fanciful navigation methods, but that’s only going to complicate matters. This is especially true when they have included hidden menus because people will just get fed up trying to find something and go elsewhere.

The best approach is the old tried and trusted menu. People know what to expect, and they know how to work it so you really are onto a winner with this.

Be Careful with Typography.

There are a number of websites that seem to be in some kind of competition to use as many different fonts as possible on the one page. However, that’s just sore on the eyes and the website itself actually looks a mess.

You are best to stick to a rule whereby the fewer the number of fonts, the better it is. In general, try to have just two or three and mix it up by using some in bold, italics, or using h2, h3 and so on. There’s just no need to try to be all artistic like this as it just annoys people and makes your website look far more complicated than it actually is.

Remember the Text Size.

The final thing we will mention is the text size. It must be easy to read, and yet some people will have a font size that is far too small so that when it’s transferred to a smartphone it becomes impossible to ready it.

Increase the font size by a few points and cut back on the number of words instead so it no longer seems as cramped. Be succinct with what you are saying and get your point across as quickly as possible as that will only bode well for your potential conversion rates.

These are just a few things that we feel anybody should look at doing with their website, and it’s up to you as to which ones you need to use in order to make those changes. A simple website is a winning website and surely you want to be a winner?

Launching Your Website is a Key Moment

Written by Webfoot on . Posted in Blog, SEO, Tips, Website Design, Websites (General).

website launchIt’s not exactly rocket science to know that launching your website is going to prove to be a key moment, but even though this is obvious, it’s still amazing how many people do it wrong.

Now, you are probably sitting there wondering how you can go wrong with this kind of thing. Surely you just put the website live and that’s it?

Well, if you do believe that, then you are one of the many people that have just been missing out on the main point.

In order to get to this point, you need to have jumped through various hoops and got over a range of obstacles before you are in the position to launch your website. Thankfully, there are various tools that will often prove to be rather useful with all of this, so if you are at that point of getting ready to launch your site, then this could be an interesting post.

Now, we are going to also skip past a few of the early stages such as getting the correct domain name and hosting, because those are common sense and you will have already done that. Instead, we are talking about taking things further and to the point where you are ready to unveil your master creation to the world.

After all, you want the great reveal to go well and not to just sink without a trace, don’t you?

The Key Tools to Move Forward.

As we said, we are skipping the hosting and domain name stuff, but we are going to jump right in just after that particular point and start with an SSL Certificate.

An SSL Certificate is going to help encrypt various aspects of your website and users are well aware that it gives them some added security, which is something that they love. You will see the padlock and the domain name starting with https rather than http as a sign that it does indeed have this certificate.

It used to be the case that it cost you money for this certificate, but that changed in late 2015 where it’s now free. As it costs you nothing, there’s no reason for you to not have it and some hosting companies provide it anyway, so you might not even have to do anything extra. However, the confidence it gives your users in visiting your website is well worth double checking.

Monitoring Tools.

If you thought that you put your website live and then that’s it, then think again. Instead, things can go wrong at any point even if it’s not your fault, and yet, you might not even be aware of it and, as a result, will be missing out on potential clients or customers.

That’s why we do recommend that you take full advantage of website monitoring tools that do this automatically and report back to you. They run constantly, so even if you are asleep then you can rest assured that this software is keeping a close eye on things. You will then be made aware of any issues when you log back on and can then take the appropriate action.

Error Tracking.

Even though you may have tested your website to the point of exhaustion, that doesn’t mean that you will have potentially caught all of the bugs and errors. That’s why it may be worth your while investing in error tracking tools that will let you know when users have encountered a problem.

This is important because you want to rectify those errors as quickly as possible since that user may have just decided to go elsewhere thanks to their bad experience. You don’t want that situation to replicate itself time and time again, do you?

There are several tools out there that can do this job, but do just double check how much they charge before signing up.

Web Analytics.

Finally, there are web analytics tools and we strongly recommend that you use them. They are going to provide you with so much information on how people are using your website allowing you to then make the appropriate changes in order to improve usability and reduce bounce rates.

Now, even if you are unsure as to what the different stats are telling you, it will at least put you in the picture of where people are coming from, what they are looking at, how they are getting there, and so many other rather useful snippets of information. It will also make it easier for you to create a marketing plan that will work all because of the details from these tools.

These are just the basic things that we recommend when you are going to be launching your website although there are others such as file storage and the ability to create emailing lists and send out bulk emails to those individuals. However, just launching your website without putting any kind of thought into it is just not an option at all and by doing this, you are just increasing your chances of things becoming a failure.

Consider and Understand the Importance of an SSL Certificate

Written by Webfoot on . Posted in Blog, Hosting, SEO, Tips, Uncategorized, Website Design, Websites (General).

Your website security is important to you as well as your visitors. In today’s world of cyber-security, adding an SSL Certificate to your website can help protect you, protect your visitors, build trust, and as a little bonus – give you a little SEO rankings bump.

What is an SSL Certificate?

An SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encrypts data to allow secure connections from a web server to a browser. The SSL helps to keep prying eyes from seeing the conversation between you and the website you would be doing business with. In the past, an SSL was commonly needed to protect credit card information, social security numbers, bank accounts, and any other personal sensitive information. It is always expected that any online store, bank, job application, or doctor’s online patient forms have the well-known green lock displayed next the website URL.

But there is nothing sensitive on my website. Why do I need an SSL?

There are added benefits to an SSL Certificate, as they are becoming more popular in today’s web. Customer experience is vital to any company. By adding an SSL to your website, are you building immediate trust with your potential clients. The moment someone visits a website that is proudly displaying the secure lock next to their URL, the visitor can see that you not only take your site and your security seriously, but you also value theirs.

Google recognizes the need for more vigilant cyber security and have started giving increased SEO rankings to those that are utilizing the tool. Google SEO standards are another can of worms, and this one step may not launch you from page 7 to #1, but using this tool that improves your site security and gives you a little boost in SEO is an easy win-win situation.

Here at Webfoot, we utilize the SSL certificate for many reasons, and we encourage everyone to do the same. We will soon require all clients hosting with Webfoot to have an SSL on their website.